Live Colorful Day of the Dead Crafts Featured in Parents Latina Magazine
Check out the behind-the-scenes of Live Colorful's Day of the Dead crafts featured in Parents Latina and Family Fun magazine!
A few months back, I got this unexpected email from a lifestyle director inviting me to collaborate with Parents Latina and Family Fun magazines on some Day of the Dead-inspired projects. At first, I thought it might just be a small online feature, but to my surprise, it turned into full-blown printed spreads in both magazines!
The collaboration was a whirlwind of creativity and coordination. We spent weeks exchanging emails filled with ideas, mood boards, sketches, drafts, and photos of the finished projects. Their team was so supportive and collaborative. It made the whole process a blast.
Here is a picture of a copy of Parents Latina and Family Fun magazines featuring Live Colorful / Elba Valverde Day of the Dead crafts
I vividly remember the day I had to ship the final pieces to their offices in New York for the photoshoot. I was running on fumes after a late-night marathon of putting finishing touches on those sugar-skull pillows. Of course, the early morning wake-up call from my little one didn't help either—thank goodness for coffee!
I was oddly nervous about packing the mini paper nichos safely. I ended up tucking them snugly into Tupperware, surrounded by tissue paper and even watched a YouTube tutorial on packing artwork to make sure everything was protected. Especially that delicate tissue paper transfer art piece.
Check out some behind-the-scenes moments from the featured projects below:
Sugar Skull Day of the Dead pillows
The picture below is one of the sugar-skull pillow pieces before I ironed it and assembled it. When they were ready they turned out super adorable.
Memory card game
Below you can see the first illustrations that I created for the memory card game.
Mini Paper Nichos
Below you can see how the mini paper nichos look and the decoration that I added to each one before packing them inside the plastic container.
These mini paper nichos turned out adorable! I loved how much fun I had cutting small pieces of paper and putting all the pieces together.
Tissue Paper Sugar Skull Transfer Art.
The tissue-paper transfer art piece took me a long time! I had to figure out a way to make the project easy to make for the kids, but when I got the perfect material and created the template everything was fun and simple!
This tissue paper sugar skull transfer art was one of the most challenging ones because we had to try with a lot of different tissue paper brands until we found the perfect one!
I wish there was a picture of me walking from the parking lot to the USPS offices. Picture this: My toddler in his stroller, with a towering box precariously balanced on top. Maneuvering like a pro with one hand, I shield my son’s head from the box while clutching the tissue paper transfer art piece in the other. It must have been quite a sight from afar!
Just two days ago, I finally had the pleasure of meeting the editor of Parents Latina and Ser Padres, at the We All Grow Familia conference in Los Angeles. We had a great chat about our collaboration, and she even handed me a copy of the Parents Latina issue featuring all the projects I worked on. It was such a rewarding feeling to see those projects in print after putting so much heart into each one.
Thinking about the Day of the Dead, which inspired these projects, fills my heart with joy. Seeing the pictures brings back memories of my childhood, where I can vividly recall sitting next to my mom, scissors, glue, felt, and paper in hand, creating together as we talk about abuelito and tia Rosa.
Dia de los Muertos is not only special for its rich traditions but also its vibrant colors. It resonates deeply with me because, like Live Colorful, it's about celebrating life and cherishing the moments we share with our loved ones, even if they are not with us anymore.